Spring soon?

I know it's weeks and weeks until spring, but it's starting to feel like the darkest part of winter is over. We were driving home from the inlaws this evening at about 5, and while it was definitely twilight, there was still some light in the sky at 5:20. I was also given a small pot of bulbs by my friend last week - they turned out to be tiny daffodils that are blooming happily on the windowsill. Spring, I tell you.

Whatever extra light there is has pressed the 'garden' button in my brain. I'm obviously not the only one - the Thompson & Morgan seed catalogue arrived today. (Not sure how - since it's Sunday and it was sent via the postal service, but it was on the mat when we got home.) We planted a few shrubs last year and a whole bunch of bedding plants, as well as lots of herbs. We're definitely going to go with the bedding plants by the house again - they looked so jolly and lasted well into October.

There's a runty piece of lawn between the patio and the fence, about 18 inches deep and 5 feet wide. Last year, it was a pain in the ass to mow. This year, it's going to be a raised bed with tomatoes and marigolds in one end and herbs in the other. We also have a spot at the back of the garden where the parking lot behind goes underneath the grass. It's a perfect spot for a tree, except that there's only about a foot of dirt before you hit concrete. So we're going to use three half-barrels that we found at the garden center as planters and give up on the grass. Gravel will be our friend. The area around the compost bin is another spot that's going to get the gravel treatment - it's the lowest part of the garden and gets kind of boggy. The grass is dead in one spot and 8 inches high in others, fueled by what must be by now some v. ripe compost.